What are goalkeepers thinking?

It must be a pretty lonely job, especially on a good team.

But you have to concentrate, and the best goalkeepers are ready to make that big save when they are called upon.

Then there are the other times. Are 'keepers thinking about food? women? why they weren't good enough to play on the field?

Maybe they should think about how to deal with what's going on, and how to save the ball...and not look like an idiot.

This one is tough, but what is he doing? It looks like it hits him in the face on the way down!

I thought he may buy a Burger King franchise

He was caught with three cross-dressing prostitutes in 2008, so this isn't completely out of left field!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2362937/Ronaldo-starts-new-career-porn-magnate-bidding-Playboy-franchise-Brazil.html

A pre-season game in the middle of the season?

Only in the MLS

Major League Soccer is about to enter that time of year when it sells itself to the highest bidder rather than focusing on strengthening its own brand.

The New York Red Bulls play Lyon tomorrow night in a game that doesn’t matter to anyone, and is just a pre-season game for the French team. This is amazing considering the Red Bulls have played 20 games in the league already, look like they will qualify for the playoffs and have nothing to gain from the fixture. It’s unlikely Thierry Henry or Tim Cahill will play – why risk the only good players they have? They also have to compete with the US National team who are playing Costa Rica at the exact same time (albeit in another match with little significance), which means fans and TV viewers are likely to be focused on something else. 

It begs the question of why the MLS needs to take on these games. It’s really not a benefit to the teams in the US and Canada, can’t bring in that significant revenue and isn’t a great advert for the league as the top players don’t participate.

The MLS All-Star game against Roma on July 31 is a little different. Putting the best players in the league up against teams like Manchester United and Chelsea (both former opponents for the All-Stars) can only be good for exposure and therefore attract a better quality player to the league. I’m sure players like Henry and Marco Di Vaio are not best pleased about having to play an extra game, and neither are there employers, but it’s good for promoting the league.

It’s already a league that doesn’t conform to the European football timetable, doesn’t have a regular schedule to attract fans (with games even being played at 1pm on a weekday!) and is still establishing an identity.

There is so much potential for the MLS, so here’s to hoping that they ditch some of these meaningless friendly games and focus on their own league.

Summer Blues

It's almost enough to make me a baseball fan...

Rooney to leave, Mourinho’s return, Monaco to buy everyone, Cassano joins his 29^th team, Messi not turning up for an autograph signing – it’s summer, so plenty of people making up stories to fill the back pages and websites with rumors and gossip.

We all love it to some degree – the hope that our teams are signing someone great, selling the deadwood and moving forward from last season, but it can be too much. I started watching Panama against Martinique last night, and was tempted to stay up for the Mexico v Canada game in the Gold Cup. It’s July – there’s no need for TV. Sit on the deck, drink beer, watch the world go by and think about anything but football.

There’s the Ashes cricket, the Lions tour, the Open, the X games, MLS soccer – hey, there’s even the opportunity for conversation about something other than sports, but who are we kidding. The countdown is on. Pre-season has begun. A summer without a major tournament just isn’t the same. The Confederations Cup doesn’t count. Tahiti were fun to watch, Brazil even more so, but all the players looked like they wanted a few weeks on the beach – and who can blame them.

Instead we’re stuck with stories of Nigerian teams winning 76-0 and 67-0 to try and boost their goal difference to get promoted, tales of Gareth Bale being seen shopping in the same place as Real Madrid’s communications officer’s third cousin, and beheadings in Brazil over a missed offside call.   

Roll on August. The rumors get too crazy in July, and ‘journalists’ really scrape the barrel to fill some space. Another Moyes and Rooney bust-up story is going to turn me into a baseball fan.

 -JEM